Myanmar

The World Food Programme (WFP) says its operational costs for West Africa are expected to expand by $136 million as a result of rising fuel and food prices.  Some 43 million people are expected to face acute food insecurity by June.  Before the Ukraine conflict WFP had already forced to cut rations in Nigeria, Central African Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali and Niger.

The United Nations team in Myanmar remains alarmed by deteriorating humanitarian conditions amid continued fighting, particularly in the country’s south-east and north-west.  Across Myanmar, more than 900,000 people are displaced, including more than 560,000 people who remain uprooted since the military takeover in February 2021.

Some 10,000 people have sought refuge in Uganda’s Kisoro district, following violent clashes that began on Monday in the Rutshuru territory.  The United Nations Refugee Agency is working with the Government of Uganda and humanitarian partners to provide assistance.

Nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide, about 121 million a year, are unintended, a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says, warning the Ukraine and other conflicts are expected to drive an increase through disruption of access to contraception and growing sexual violence.

United Nations staff in Myanmar report that civilians continue to suffer amid a worsening humanitarian crisis and continued fighting.  Nearly 890,000 people are displaced across the country, humanitarian needs are rising and aid workers face limited access, which is hampering the planned scale-up of assistance for 2022.

Sara Beysolow Nyanti, Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, strongly condemned today the continuing violence in the country that is impacting the safety of civilians and humanitarian workers and disrupts the delivery of aid and services to vulnerable people.  These appalling acts of violence must stop, she stressed.

In Ethiopia, fighting in the northern region of Afar continues to prevent the delivery of aid into neighbouring Tigray.  These clashes are also causing large-scale displacement and increasing humanitarian needs in Afar.

At least 10 people have died and more than 43,000 are displaced across 180 displacement sites as a result of Tropical Cyclone Batsirai, which made landfall on the east coast of Madagascar on 5 February.  The first aerial assessment took place today with a United Nations Humanitarian Air Service flight.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Vassily A. Nebenzia (Russian Federation):

World Wetlands Day, observed on 2 February, is being celebrated under the theme “Wetlands Action for People and Nature”, highlighting the importance of actions to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands for human and planetary health.